Medical control apparatus

Abstract

A medical control apparatus includes: an insertion portion in which a bending portion is provided; a drive portion that generates a driving force; a wire that is connected to the bending portion; a pulling portion that pulls the wire; a connecting portion that connects the drive portion and the pulling portion; a driving amount detection portion that detects a drive portion driving amount; a pulling portion driving amount detection portion that detects a pulling portion driving amount; a comparison portion that compares change amounts of the drive portion driving amount and the pulling portion driving amount; and an identification portion that, based on a comparison result, identifies a boundary between a bending range in which it is possible for a restoring force of an elastic member to contribute to bending of the bending portion and a bending range in which it is impossible to contribute to bending.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A medical control apparatus, comprising:
 an insertion portion that is provided in a medical apparatus, and that comprises a bending portion that is formed using an elastic member having flexibility on a distal end side;   a drive portion that generates a driving force for subjecting the bending portion to a bending operation;   a wire that is inserted through an inside of the insertion portion, and that is provided with slackness and connected to the bending portion;   a pulling portion that pulls the wire;   a connecting portion that connects the drive portion and the pulling portion so as to have a positional relationship that transmits the driving force between the drive portion and the pulling portion and a positional relationship that cannot transmit the driving force between the drive portion and the pulling portion;   a driving amount detection portion that detects a driving amount of the drive portion as a drive portion driving amount;   a pulling portion driving amount detection portion that detects a pulling portion driving amount that is pulled by the pulling portion;   a comparison portion that compares a change amount of the drive portion driving amount and a change amount of the pulling portion driving amount; and   an identification portion that, based on a comparison result obtained by the comparison portion, identifies a boundary between a bending range in which it is possible for a restoring force of the elastic member forming the bending portion to contribute to bending of the bending portion and a bending range in which it is not possible for the restoring force to contribute to bending of the bending portion.   
     
     
         2 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the connecting portion has a positional relationship that transmits the driving force by contact between an engagement surface of a convex portion and an engagement surface of a concave portion, and also has a positional relationship in which a backlash portion at which both engagement surfaces do not contact against each other cannot transmit the driving force.   
     
     
         3 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein, as the boundary, the identification portion identifies a specific bending state position at which the bending portion maintains a specific bending state without the drive portion applying a driving force that drives to bend the bending portion during a period until the connecting portion is set in a positional relationship that transmits the driving force from a positional relationship in which the driving force is not transmitted after a bending action caused by the restoring force of the elastic member ends.   
     
     
         4 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 3 ,
 wherein, in a state in which a comparison result of the comparison portion is that there is a change amount of the drive portion driving amount, the identification portion identifies a state in which a comparison result of the comparison portion is that a change amount of the pulling portion driving amount is approximately 0 as the specific bending state position.   
     
     
         5 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein:
 the drive portion is configured by a motor that generates a torque as the driving force; and   the pulling portion is configured by a pulley around which a rear end of a wire having a distal end connected to the bending portion is wound and rotatably connected, and that is connected to the motor through the connecting portion.   
     
     
         6 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 4 ,
 wherein the connecting portion is formed by one of the convex portion and the concave portion that is connected to a rotation shaft of the motor, and the other of the convex portion and the concave portion that is provided in the vicinity of a rotation shaft of the pulley and engages with the one of the convex portion and the concave portion.   
     
     
         7 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 3 ,
 wherein the comparison portion determines a difference value between a change amount of the drive portion driving amount and a change amount of the pulling portion driving amount, and performs a comparison with respect to the difference value.   
     
     
         8 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the identification portion identifies the boundary as a case where an absolute value of the difference value that is detected by the comparison portion is less than a predetermined value.   
     
     
         9 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a control portion that changes control that pulls and drives the wire by means of the drive portion, based on the boundary that is identified by the identification portion.   
     
     
         10 . A medical control apparatus, comprising:
 an insertion portion having a bending portion on a distal end side;   a drive portion that generates a driving force for subjecting the bending portion to a bending operation;   a wire that extends from the bending portion and can be pulled by means of the drive portion, and that is connected with slackness to the bending portion;   a judgment portion that judges whether or not a driving force of the drive portion is in a driving force contributing state that contributes to driving to bend the bending portion;   a driving force detection portion that detects a driving force generated at the drive portion;   a position identification portion that detects a specific bending state position at which the bending portion maintains a specific bending state without a driving force that drives to bend the bending portion being applied by the drive portion; and   a discrimination portion that discriminates, as bending states of the bending portion, a first bending state that is the driving force contributing state, a second bending state in which a bending state of the bending portion is changed as far as the specific bending state position immediately after the state is changed from the driving force contributing state to a bending state that is not the driving force contributing state by the drive portion, and a third bending state in which a driving force generated by the drive portion is not detected as a value that is greater than or equal to a predetermined value in a bending state that is not the driving force contributing state excluding the second bending state.   
     
     
         11 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a control portion that changes a driving speed at which the drive portion drives, in accordance with a discrimination result of the discrimination portion.   
     
     
         12 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a control portion that, in accordance with a discrimination result of the discrimination portion, performs control that pulls the wire at a first driving speed by means of the drive portion in the first bending state, pulls the wire at a second driving speed that is less than the first driving speed by means of the drive portion in the second bending state, and winds up the wire at a third driving speed that is greater than the first driving speed by means of the drive portion in the third bending state.   
     
     
         13 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a pulling portion on which a rear end of the wire having a distal end attached to the bending portion is suspended, and which is connected to the drive portion and used for pulling the wire; and   a storage portion that stores information of a driving amount of the drive portion, information of a bending amount of the bending portion that is driven to bend via the pulling portion and the wire by the drive portion, and information of a pulling portion driving amount of the pulling portion as associated characteristics information.   
     
     
         14 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 13 , wherein:
 the drive portion is configured by a motor that generates a torque that is a rotational driving force as the driving force;   the pulling portion is configured by a pulley over which a rear end of a wire having a distal end connected to the bending portion is wound and rotatably suspended; and   the motor and the pulley are rotatably connected by a connecting portion that has a positional relationship that transmits the torque and a positional relationship that cannot transmit the torque.   
     
     
         15 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 12 ,
 wherein the position identification portion comprises a pulling portion on which the wire is suspended and which pulls the wire, a connecting portion that connects the drive portion and the pulling portion so as to have a positional relationship that transmits the driving force between the drive portion and the pulling portion and a positional relationship that cannot transmit the driving force between the drive portion and the pulling portion, a driving amount detection portion that detects a driving amount of the drive portion as a drive portion driving amount, a pulling portion driving amount detection portion that detects a pulling portion driving amount that is pulled by the pulling portion, and a comparison portion that performs a comparison with respect to a change amount of the pulling portion driving amount in a case of a change amount in which the drive portion driving amount decreases;   and wherein the comparison portion detects a case of a change amount that substantially stops of the pulling portion driving amount that is a change amount that is less than or equal to a threshold value, as the specific bending state position.   
     
     
         16 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 14 , wherein:
 the position identification portion comprises the connecting portion, an encoder that detects a motor rotational driving amount of the motor as the drive portion driving amount, a potentiometer that detects a pulley rotational driving amount that is pulled by the pulley as the pulling portion driving amount, and a comparison portion that performs a comparison with respect to a change amount of the pulley rotational driving amount in a case of a change amount in which the motor rotational driving amount decreases;   and wherein the comparison portion detects a case where a change amount of the pulley rotational driving amount is approximately 0 that is a change amount that is less than or equal to a threshold value, as the specific bending state position.   
     
     
         17 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 14 ,
 wherein the connecting portion has a positional relationship which transmits the driving force by contact between an engagement surface of a convex portion and an engagement surface of a concave portion, and also has a positional relationship of a backlash state in which a backlash portion at which both engagement surfaces do not contact against each other cannot transmit the driving force.   
     
     
         18 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 13 ,
 wherein the judgment portion judges whether or not a state is the driving force contributing state based on whether or not an absolute value of a driving force of the drive portion is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value.   
     
     
         19 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 14 ,
 wherein the judgment portion judges whether or not a state is the driving force contributing state based on whether or not an absolute value of a torque of the motor is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value.   
     
     
         20 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 14 , wherein:
 the bending portion is formed using an elastic member that has flexibility and has an elastic force; and   based on a change amount of a pulley rotational driving amount of the pulley, the discrimination portion discriminates a second bending state in which a bending state of the bending portion is changed by a restoring force of the elastic member forming the bending portion immediately after a driving force contributing state is changed to a bending state that is not a driving force contributing state by the motor comprising the drive portion in accordance with a judgment result obtained by the judgment portion   
     
     
         21 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 17 ,
 wherein the discrimination portion further discriminates, with respect to the third bending state, the backlash state in a case where a change amount of a pulley rotational driving amount of the pulley is approximately 0 with respect to a change of a rotational driving amount of the motor, and a slackened state in which there is slackness in the wire in a case other than the backlash state in the third bending state.   
     
     
         22 . The medical control apparatus according to  claim 13 , further comprising:
 a control portion that, in accordance with a discrimination result of the discrimination portion, performs control to pull the wire at a first driving speed by means of the drive portion in a case of the first bending state, to pull the wire at a second driving speed that is less than the first driving speed by means of the drive portion in a case of the second bending state, to pull the wire at a third driving speed that is greater than the first driving speed in a case of the connecting portion backlash state, and in a case of the slackened state, to pull the wire so as to wind up the wire at a fourth driving speed that is greater than the first driving speed and correct the characteristics information in accordance with an amount of the wire that is wound up.